Pamela Rai

Who is Pamela Rai?

Pamela Leila Rai is a former freestyle, butterfly swimmer from Canada, who competed for Canada at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Rai won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4x100m Medley Relay, alongside Anne Ottenbrite, Reema Abdo, and Michelle MacPherson. Rai represented Canada as a youth from 1976–1979 and was a member of Canada's National Swim Team from 1980-1987. Other notable awards include University of Victoria Athlete of the Year, City of Victoria Athlete of the Year, Hapoel Games silver, Pan American Games silver, and Commonwealth Games gold medals. Rai swam for the University of Victoria in British Columbia and graduated with a degree in Sociology. She went on to attain an education degree from the University of British Columbia and is high school special education and social justice teacher. Rai is also a certified yoga instructor trained in Netala, India in the Sivananda Yoga lineage. Rai owns and operates Silent Motion Yoga Vedanta Centre on Vancouver Island, Nanaimo, British Columbia. She is a member of the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the Swim BC Hall of Fame and the University of Victoria Sports Hall of Fame. Rai is the first woman of Indian ancestry and the first Indo-Canadian to win an Olympic medal. Rai's father, Harinder Jit Singh Rai, was a member of the Canadian National Field Hockey Team which qualified for the 1964 Olympic Games.